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How to be a blues buster!

Blue Monday cheer-up tips are glib argues John McGowan, so what do you say when you’re asked for some?

“But I’m quite sure that you’ll tell me, just how I should feel today”. When you’re asked to write something about Blue Monday, it’s New Order that come to mind. Rather than the day that is apparently the saddest of the year. Even when the request is to supply a few coping tips, the Hacienda’s finest still are to the fore. Isn’t assuming I have an answer for someone I don’t know dangerously close to telling them how they should feel? To be honest I’m not sure about the whole idea of coping tips. Niles dismissed Frasier’s radio show as McSessions and I think he had a point.

Podcast: What is Home?

On the edge of Brexit the panel discuss the meaning of home.

You could fairly say the UK is on the cusp of a huge change. When we recorded this episode (early March 2019) the Britain was scheduled to leave the EU at the end of the month. That hasn’t happened, though the situation is, if anything, even less certain now.  To discuss the impact of all this on people who have chosen to settle here, regulars John McGowan and Laura Lea were joined Dr Kate Foxwell who has been conducting research into the sense of home held by EU citizens living here. The panel were also joined three of our Clinical Psychology Doctorate trainees who work in the NHS: Sonia Lopes, Julian Himmerich and Riccardo Zito (from Portugal, Germany and Italy respectively). 

Podcast: The politics of mental health

The panel try to make sense of mental health policy and politics

This week Anne, Rachel and John are joined by two special guests to discuss the politics of mental health. What are the main initiatives in mental health policy? What do the different political parties have to say? Are there even any meaningful differences between them? And does the recent Mental Health Act Review move us forward? To help us think though these questions we had some help from Akiko Hart and Mark Brown, two people far more involved in political conversations than we are. We also have an interview with our colleague, child psychologist Trish Joscelyne, who takes us through the changing landscape of children’s mental health.

Podcast: Working so that people don’t need us anymore

John McGowan talks to six clinical psychology trainees just about to qualify

 

Every September we say goodbye to a qualifying cohort of our clinical psychology trainees. They’ve been with us for three years and it’s always a pongiant moment. This year John McGowan sat down with six of our leavers to talk about their hope for qualified life and the challenges of planning a career in public service. The discussion ranged from the kind of teams they want to work in to whether health services are always the best place to help people. We’d like to thank all of the participants: Abi Davison-Jenkins, Marguerite Gallagher, Helen Layton, Rebecca Newman, Hannah Prytherch and Owen Thompson. We’ll miss you!

 

Podcast: Race and Mental Health

Rachel Terry, Laura Lea, John McGowan and guests discuss two recent high profile publications on the subject of race in mental health

 

Though the effects of race and ethnicity on mental health have been written about and researched for many years, a wide range of inequalities persist in the mental health system. In particular, young black men are over represented in secure services and in the figures for detentions under the Mental Health Act. The last few months have seen the publication of two documents which attempt to improve this situation. One is a recent statement by the Royal College of Psychiatrists aiming to tackle the effects of racism and discrimination in the UK health system. The second is a BME (Black and Minority Ethnic) service user led document, the ‘Kindred Minds Manifesto’. To discuss these, and the multiplicity of ways in which race can influence mental health outcomes, the regular panel is joined by Raza Griffiths, the author of the Kindred Minds Manifesto, and by Trainee Psychologist Lauren Bryan. We also have interviews with sociologist Harshad Keval, Clinical Psychologist and journalist Masuma Rahim, and Psychiatrist Samei Huda*. All have considered the effects of race and discrimination and all have views on what has failed to happen thus far and what needs to happen now.